Yes, I know Christmas is so last year! But I've been waiting for my sister to post our Christmas day pictures on facebook to show you :P
(also, I made her some beautiful necklaces for Christmas that I'm dying to show you! so hopefully she'll take pics of them!)
Anyway, we spent Christmas morning at my mama's house, we also took advantage of my mom (lol) and went to see "Dark Swan" (best movie I've seen in a long time!) And we ended our Christmas here at home, chatting and drinking with friends!
Ok pues, I'll stop "talking" and show you the pictures:
recalentado: birria!
my beautiful mama!
my beautiful familia
Julián was more into the wrapping than the gifts! lol
Acabo de llegar de trabajar y me he encontrado a mis dos chicos durmiendo, y de repente me vino a la mente el año lleno de alegrías y triunfos que hemos tenido. "Tengo una familia, MI familia" me dije a mi misma, sonriendo en silencio para no despertarlos.
Cada fin de año es un poco nostálgico, lleno de remordimientos por lo que no se hizo, y la promesa en cambiar las cosas para el año siguiente. Este año, sin embargo, cierro la página bien, ¡feliz y satisfecha! Este año he llegado a amar como nunca pensé poder hacerlo, me he desarrollado como madre, como pareja y he crecido inmensamente como persona. Estos han sido mis triunfos, y han cambiado mi vida de tal manera que aquellas cosillas que se quedaron a medias o las piedras que me encontré en el camino no importan.
Si hay algún propósito que tengo para este 2011, es cuidarme más a mi misma. Como toda madre primeriza, he volcado toda mi energía y tiempo en mi pequeño Julían. Todo mi mundo gira alrededor de él, ¡como debe de ser! Sin embargo, por cuidar a mi nene me he descuidado a mi misma de tal manera que la salud me ha fallado varias veces este año y siento que no he alimentado al espíritu de la forma debida.
Para este 2011 me propongo hacer unos simples cambios para disfrutar al máximo de mi familia:
- ¡Desayunar! (hay días que no como nada hasta tarde)
-Comer saludablemente
- Beber más agua
-Ser más organizada
-Regresar a mis clases de baile
-Leer más
-Escribir más
-Trabajar más en mi arte
-Dedicarle un poquito de tiempo a mi pareja, así como a mi misma
-Ver el lado positivo de las cosas, no solo el negativo!
Diez puntos tan fáciles y sencillos, que espero poder realizarlos sin dificultad. Mi propósito es desarrollar todos estos de tal manera que para el fin del 2011 me salgan naturalmente.
¿Alguno de ustedes tienen propósitos para este nuevo año?
De todo corazón les deseo un 2011 lleno de triunfos, esperando que todos sus anhelos se hagan realidad.
Y para terminar con broche de oro, les dejo este video que siempre es mi preferido para este día... No recibiré el año nuevo en la Puerta del Sol esta vez, pero aún así me trae tantos recuerdos y al mismo tiempo me recuerda en todo aquello que me queda por vivir!
I still can't believe that this year is ending tomorrow! So many things have happened, good and bad... but it'll all went by too fast.
Of course the greatest thing that happened to us was our little Julián, born back in January. Since then it has been a long journey for my boyfriend and I. We have learned so many things, many from mistakes. The most important thing we have learned is to grow as a family and a couple. Having the little one kicking inside my belly and dreaming how we were going to raise him was one thing, him being outside was another. We suddenly were responsible for another human being, even though we didn't even take care of ourselves sometimes. But we managed.
We learned to function with less sleep, to change a diaper in a split second, to do other things while holding a baby, to sing and dance just to see the booger's smile... we learned (and are still learning) to be parents, to be a family. And we're doing a pretty good job if I say so myself!
As a couple we're better than never. We're both more tolerant, patient, and understanding. We both know that even if we get mad and fight, we're still together as one. We have built a home, tiny and modest, but warm and loving. We have been through pretty rough times, but we know we can overcome anything together.
I'm happy to see the family we've become... and I'm looking forward to what 2011 is bringing us!
Hope you had a great Christmas, we sure did! Surprisingly, none of our families made tamales this year but we enjoyed hanging out with them ;) Julián got tons of presents and attention the whole weekend!!
On Sunday, he turned 11 months old! I was at work when my mom texted me to tell me he was walking! He had been taking a few steps the days before, but when I got home he was walking longer distances!! There is a video that was supposed to go with this post but I can't upload it!!! :S
And so, my baby decided it was time to walk on his 11 month-day! He still crawls to move faster but he's walking more and more.
Our little one turns one in a month!! (TOO SOON!)
I stayed up until late last night brainstorming ideas for his fiesta and decided to do a Lucha Libre theme!!
I was surprised I couldn't find any inspiration online, no luchador kid's party images at all! Something is for sure, the kiddo's party is going to be very original ;)
I played around with some gimp brushes and fonts today and finished his invitation!! Here's the template:
And here is what the final invitation looks like:
I used iPhoto to give it a vintage feeling, like those old luchador mexican movies! I love it!!!
I'm currently looking for some cheap printing places, any ideas?? I can get 100 postcards from Vista Print for about $20, which is not a lot really! I'm just worried about getting them on time because I don't want to pay extra money for expedite shipping... Their shipping is pretty expensive!
I have tons of other things to do today, but it looks like I'll be spending the rest of the day organizing the kid's party! LOL
This is our first Christmas with Julián and I'm so excited!!!
I really wanted to decorate our little home as soon as possible... I think I had all the ornaments bought even before Thanksgiving. :P
Our place is itty bitty tiny, so there wasn't a lot I could decorate. I chose all baby proof ornaments because my little one is very curious! To my surprise he was into the tree when we put it up but has pretty much ignored the thing...
I had planned a handmade Christmas, but my schedule changed and I didn't have as much free time as I wanted to. However, I did manage to decorate some wooden letters and made our stockings which was something I had promise myself I would do no matter what!
(Note to self: next year start all Christmas planning, crafting, shopping, etc. in June!)
We're so ready for Christmas! We're celebrating Christmas eve with my suegra, and early on Christmas morning we'll be heading to my mom's. We might go see a movie with my sis and her boyfriend on Christmas too, and we will have some friends visiting in the evening. Very busy days ahead but looking forward to them!
Hope you're all getting ready to enjoy the holidays!
Like promised, here are some of our Christmas cards. Unfortunately I remembered to take pictures when more than half were already sealed in envelopes. But here are a few of them, sorry for the bad photos... I swear they're cuter in person!
You guys know I love Christmas, but it always happens that right before Thanksgiving a bunch of people at my job either quit, get fired, or just ask for vacation time... So the few of us that are left have to do their work and tons of extra hours. And while extra cash is amazingly perfect for this season, I miss working only on weekends and having the rest of the week off with my family! It's been raining cats and dogs these past few days here in Southern California, and all I want to do is stay home with a cup of chocolate abuelita and the fireplace on...
I had to take the day off yesterday to take the kid to the doctor and took advantage of the free time to do some last minute Christmas shopping. The extra hours I've been doing at work didn't let me make Christmas gifts like I had planned to... and have you been to the mall during Christmas week? It's CRAZY! We spent all day yesterday there and came back home exhausted.
Anyway, I'm off to work in a bit and have the rest of my evening planned already but I promise I'll show you our handmade Christmas cards when I come back home tonight!
[Una página de mi diario para estrenar el Spanish Friday]
Hay tantas cosas que te podría contestar cada vez que dices no entender lo que pasa por mi cabeza...
Cada vez que te marchas diciendo entre dientes lo difícil que es hacerme feliz.
Y es tan simple sacarme una sonrisa,
que tu ignorancia sobre el tema me llega a ofender.
Tan simple como una tarde de lluvia,
y sentir el aire de un viernes de verano.
Un lienzo en blanco y la pintura entre mis dedos,
caminar de la mano en completo silencio.
Echarme en el sillón a comer chucherias,
y las mañanas que no me despierta el ruido del reloj.
Bailar por la casa con la música en alto,
una llamada inesperada de un amigo del pasado.
El Bestiario de Cortázar,
y escribir en diferentes colores.
Los folios a cuadros,
y el ska en mis pies.
Acurrucarme con tu chamarra,
y Julián durmiendo en mi pecho.
Y tú, sobretodo tú...
Y el aroma que dejas en el aire cuando te alejas...
Until a few years ago, Christmas wasn't a big day for me. It became all about presents and lots of food, and I never really saw it as an important holiday.
Everything changed in 2006 when we went back to México for the first time after 5 years. I arrived the morning of Nochebuena, December 24th. All my family got together that night for dinner at my grandma's house, even though they were all fighting with each other. My abuelito had the biggest smile on his face and said he was happy to see his legacy all together, four generations that proudly carried his last name. Seeing my family together made it one of the best Christmas I ever had.
Every Christmas since then has been memorable in their own way. I was living in Madrid, Spain on December of 2007 and it was my first Christmas without my family. We were walking across Puerta del Sol on our way to a friend's house when the midnight campanadas welcomed Christmas day. Right there, in the middle of the street, my roommates and I hugged and wished each other a feliz navidad. By the time we got to my friend's house I was so emotional and homesick that I started crying! I had never missed my family so much in my life... being 5, 382 miles away from them made me appreciate our Christmases together, the nochebuenas eating and sharing together, and the morning after opening our gifts. Christmas took a new meaning, it wasn't about food and gifts anymore, it was about celebrating another year with my familia.
By Christmas of '08 I was back in Southern California, and really took advantage of having my family with me. We laughed, we shared, we were together! And last year I had my little bean "dancing" inside of me. I remember thinking that by the next Christmas I was going to have my Julián with me! It seemed so far away...
And here we are now, it'll be our first Christmas with the baby!! He probably won't remember a thing, but I'm pretty sure it'll be one of the best days of my life! I know that Christmas is a religious celebration and that I should be politically correct and say "holidays". But I don't want to get into any of that. For me Christmas has become a day of familia, of cherishing one another and celebrate another year together.
Octavio Paz said that "there are two beliefs deeply imbedded in Mexican consciousness: belief in the lottery and belief in the Virgin of Guadalupe."
When I first read this I was laughing and nodding in agreement at the same time. I've always believed that I'm Catholic more by culture than by faith. I don't go to church every Sunday and you won't see me praying rosaries every night. I attended a Catholic all girls school until I was 12 and it really affected my religious believes. Don't worry, I won't go into details since I don't want to start a religious debate here... I had enough debating with the nuns in my school!
But no matter what my believes are or how I feel about my religion, there is something I know for sure: La Virgencita de Guadalupe is a part of me. And so today along with México and other Latinoamericanos, I celebrate the day she became part of our lives.
I wanted to dress Julián as a little Juan Diego and take him to the celebrations this morning. I actually ordered his outfit from México for this special day. However, when the alarm went off at 5am and I saw my baby sleeping so peacefully, I couldn't wake him up. I'm sure la Virgencita understands though, we would turn on the TV and watch the celebrations in México and singing the mañanitas along.
Is it me, or December got here way too fast this year? Before I knew it my planner was on the last month and Santa had taken his place at the mall. Nothing against the gordito, but I would've liked a few more weeks of November, qué no?
Anyway, it's our little one's first Christmas and of course I wanted Christmas photos. However, I don't know about you but this momma can't even afford the mall Santa picture. Call me cheap if you want, but that Santa charges way too much!... I can probably buy the groceries for 3 days with that money... Besides, knowing my kid I'm pretty sure he would start crying and calling mama to hold him as soon as we sat him on Santa's lap.
So, I decided I was going to take his Christmas pictures myself. Sounds easier to say it... This booger would no stay still at all. He would make silly faces, crawl off, shake his head, wave, you name it. Whatever happened to my little 4 month old that would pose for the camera?
After 3 days and about 400 pictures I gave up. That picture of my little Julián standing and smiling by the Christmas tree was not going to happen. I was thisclose of going to the mall for that Santa picture but I decided to take a last look at the pictures I took. Smiley boy, his adorable "serious" face, dirty shirt... That's my kid!
I chose a few of the pictures and played around with them a little until this came out:
Julian is for Joy
It might not be your traditional Santa-green and red- Christmas pictures but it looks pretty awesome to me! I ordered 28 wallet prints from RiteAid for $5.49 , they called me literally 10 minutes after I sent my order online to tell me it was ready. I'm making Christmas cards and tags with them!!
Have you ever been to a Latino fiesta??? If you have, you probably noticed that most of the time the men get together and spend the time drinking alcohol. Now, I don't want to generalize, but at least in every single family celebration we have there is a group of drinkers. Baptisms, birthdays, quinceañeras, weddings, funerals... every single occasion is the perfect excuse to drink.
Well, now that I'm planning my little Julián's 1st birthday party I've decided I don't want any alcohol! I really don't see the point of it...First, because it's a kids party and I don't see the need to have alcohol. Second, because it would add an unnecessary expense to our budget. And lastly, because I don't want a group of borrachos to ruin this important day.
I know that my Mexican familia is going to be looking for the cervezas, and they're probably going to run to the liquor store for a 24 pack when they can't find any. To avoid this I'm thinking of writing something on the invitations like "This is a kid's party therefore no alcohol will be served or is permitted". My mom responded with a "Ay no! ¿Qué va a decir la gente?" when I told her my idea. But here is the thing, I really don't care what people think or say! This is a very important day for us and I just want to celebrate my little one in peace and with no drama. I know I will get "hate" calls from some family members complaining, and that a few ofendidos will decide not to go at all. However, if there is something I've learned is that you can't please everybody.
We will be singing las mañanitas to the kiddo and drinking horchata... the borrachos can stay home!
Well, hello there! (you’re still there right?) Sorry I’ve been M.I.A., it’s not that I haven’t had anything to say, or that life has kept me busy (although it has but not enough to keep me away from this blog)…. Truth is, my beloved Mac Book died almost a month ago. To be exact, my boyfriend drowned it in chocolate milk =(
It was an accident, but it really broke my heart. I worked so hard to buy my limited edition aluminum body Mac Book! I was able to recover all my files, but just the thought of losing something you really worked hard for is really sad.
A new computer was not part of our budget, and so I told my mom I was going to need my old iBook G4 back I left home for her to use, just so I could at least check my email. This computer is so outdated and slow that makes it almost impossible to upload pictures and post something good.
However, we learned about this great recycling program that Apple has! They basically give you money for something you would throw in the trash. You send your old computer, (they send you paid postage!) even if it doesn’t work, they work on a quote with you and then send you an Apple gift card for that amount! They also take PCs, Ipods, and mobile phones. It’s a great way to be green and thanks to this we were able to get a refurbished Mac Book Pro. =D
I’ve been checking the Fed Ex tracking site since we placed the order, and today it finally said “On FedEx vehicle for delivery” I’m sitting by the door just waiting for my new computer to get here!
I might just hug the delivery guy when he gets here ;)
